Due to operational issues the work of TULCA 2016 Artist Jane Butler at University Hospital Galway has been removed

Due to operational issues the work of TULCA 2016 Artist Jane Butler at University Hospital Galway has been removed.

Jane Butler, Planning for the Unconscious, 2016 was erected at the former Nurses’ Home on the UHG site as part of the TULCA Festival of Visual Arts 2016. When the piece was in place, which involved scaffolding to roof level on the side wall of the building, it was felt that it could prove a safety risk, particularly given its proximity to the main road and the easy access to the site.

We regret that we could not proceed with the project but the safety of the public, patients, visitors and staff is our primary consideration.

We would like to thank Jane Butler, she has been very gracious and understanding of the situation.

Jane Butler, Planning for the Unconscious, 2016

The distinctive Art Deco Nurses Home at University Hospital Galway stands proudly amongst the newer builds. Over years of change and transition at the Hospital, the Nurses Home has dominated the site becoming one of the most recognisable buildings in Galway.

Planning for the Unconscious; a subtle intervention at the Nurses Home, made in response to the idiosyncrasies of this space, addresses this familiar site in an unfamiliar way. The artwork, a common place construction scaffold, faces towards a very busy University Road and Newcastle Road in Galway City. Creating, what Butler refers to as Urban Interruptions; a text printed onto the scaffold netting encourages the audience to consider their part in the changes, creating a site of momentarily stillness and contemplation, within this restless urban landscape.

Butler (b. Belfast 1986) studied Fine and Applied Art at University of Ulster, Belfast specializing in sculpture and installation. Butler is currently based in Belfast as studio manager at Array Studios, and is a previous director of Catalyst Arts Gallery.

Butler is one of forty artists involved in this years Tulca Festival of Visual Arts, and has been invited by curator Daniel Jewesbury and Festival Producer Kate Howard to produce a temporary public artwork commissioned by Galway University Hospital Arts Trust.
Butler has worked alongside GUH Arts Trust Director, Margaret Flannery, to complete this collaboration the festival and hospital have nurtured over the years. Project such as these in non arts settings are a valuable to both the artist and the Trust.